Unification

Unification is the process of merging records from your connected integrations into a single, deduplicated view. When you connect multiple data sources (CRMs, enrichment tools, analytics platforms), Cargo automatically resolves and links records that represent the same real-world entity using shared identifiers called references. The result is four native data models that serve as the canonical source of truth for your workspace: Account, Contact, Account Event, and Contact Event.

How unification works

Connect data sources

Connect integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce, LinkedIn, etc.) that sync data models into your warehouse. Each integration model declares which unification type it participates in — account, contact, accountEvent, or contactEvent.

Map references

Each source model maps its columns to unification references — shared identifiers like domain, email, or linkedinId. Cargo uses these references to determine which records across different sources represent the same entity.

Resolve canonical IDs

Cargo builds a mapping table that groups records sharing the same reference values under a single canonical ID. If a HubSpot company and a Salesforce account share the same domain, they receive the same canonical ID.

Materialize unified models

The native unified models are materialized as tables in your warehouse, refreshed every 5 minutes.

Unified models

Account

The Account model merges company records from all connected integrations into a single, deduplicated table. Each row represents a unique company, identified by a canonical ID computed from shared references.

Column	Type	Description
`id`	`string`	Canonical account ID — unique identifier for this unified company
`domain`	`string`	Company website domain
`linkedin_id`	`string`	LinkedIn company numeric ID
`linkedin_handle`	`string`	LinkedIn company vanity URL slug
`crunchbase_uuid`	`string`	Crunchbase organization UUID
`crunchbase_permalink`	`string`	Crunchbase organization permalink
`twitter_handle`	`string`	X / Twitter company handle
`sales_navigator_id`	`string`	LinkedIn Sales Navigator account ID
`ids`	`object`	Map of source connector models to their original record IDs

Reference columns (domain, linkedin_id, etc.) are resolved by taking the highest-priority non-null value across all source records that share the same canonical ID.

Contact

The Contact model merges people records from all connected integrations into a single, deduplicated table. Each row represents a unique person, linked to their parent Account via account_id.

Column	Type	Description
`id`	`string`	Canonical contact ID — unique identifier for this unified person
`email`	`string`	Generic email address
`personal_email`	`string`	Personal email address
`work_email`	`string`	Work / professional email address
`linkedin_id`	`string`	LinkedIn member numeric ID
`linkedin_handle`	`string`	LinkedIn member vanity URL slug
`twitter_handle`	`string`	X / Twitter personal handle
`sales_navigator_id`	`string`	LinkedIn Sales Navigator lead ID
`account_id`	`string`	Foreign key to the unified Account `id`
`ids`	`object`	Map of source connector models to their original record IDs

The account_id is resolved through the parent unification mapping — if a source contact model declares a parent relationship to an account model, Cargo automatically links the unified contact to the correct unified account.

Account Event

The Account Event model aggregates event data from all connected integrations into a single timeline, where each event is linked to its parent Account.

Column	Type	Description
`id`	`string`	Composite event ID (`<database_slug>__<model_slug>__<record_id>`)
`account_id`	`string`	Foreign key to the unified Account `id`
`occurred_at`	`date`	Timestamp when the event occurred (from the source time column)
`event_name`	`string`	Name of the event, derived from the source model name
`properties`	`object`	Original column values from the source record, keyed by slug
`database_slug`	`string`	Slug of the source database / dataset
`model_slug`	`string`	Slug of the source model within the dataset

Contact Event

The Contact Event model aggregates event data from all connected integrations into a single timeline, where each event is linked to its parent Contact.

Column	Type	Description
`id`	`string`	Composite event ID (`<database_slug>__<model_slug>__<record_id>`)
`contact_id`	`string`	Foreign key to the unified Contact `id`
`occurred_at`	`date`	Timestamp when the event occurred (from the source time column)
`event_name`	`string`	Name of the event, derived from the source model name
`properties`	`object`	Original column values from the source record, keyed by slug
`database_slug`	`string`	Slug of the source database / dataset
`model_slug`	`string`	Slug of the source model within the dataset

References

References are the shared identifiers Cargo uses to match records across integrations. Each unification type supports a specific set of references. Event models inherit the references of their parent type.

Account references

Used by the Account and Account Event models.

Reference	Description
Domain	Company website domain (e.g. `acme.com`)
LinkedIn ID	LinkedIn company numeric ID
LinkedIn Handle	LinkedIn company vanity URL slug
Crunchbase UUID	Crunchbase organization UUID
Crunchbase Permalink	Crunchbase organization permalink
Twitter Handle	X / Twitter company handle
Sales Navigator ID	LinkedIn Sales Navigator account ID

Contact references

Used by the Contact and Contact Event models.

Reference	Description
Email	Generic email address
Personal Email	Personal email address
Work Email	Work / professional email address
LinkedIn ID	LinkedIn member numeric ID
LinkedIn Handle	LinkedIn member vanity URL slug
Twitter Handle	X / Twitter personal handle
Sales Navigator ID	LinkedIn Sales Navigator lead ID

Reference priority

When multiple references match, Cargo uses an ordered reference list to determine which reference takes priority for deduplication. You can configure this order per unified model in the workspace settings. For example, with the default account reference order [domain, linkedinId, linkedinHandle, ...], two records sharing the same domain will be merged even if their linkedinId values differ.

Relationships

The four unified models form a connected graph:

Relationship	Column	Type	Description
Contact → Account	`account_id`	Many-to-one	Each contact is linked to one unified account
Account Event → Account	`account_id`	Many-to-one	Each account event is linked to one unified account
Contact Event → Contact	`contact_id`	Many-to-one	Each contact event is linked to one unified contact

Source tracking

Every unified record includes an ids column — a JSON object that maps back to the original records from each contributing integration:

{
  "<database_slug>__<model_slug>": "<original_record_id>",
  "hubspot__companies": "12345",
  "salesforce__accounts": "001Ab00000XyZ"
}

For event models, the id itself is a composite key that encodes the source: <database_slug>__<model_slug>__<original_record_id>. The properties column on event models preserves all original columns from the source record as a JSON object, so no data is lost during unification.

Get Started

Reference

Integration

How unification works

Unified models

Account

Contact

Account Event

Contact Event

References

Account references

Contact references

Reference priority

Relationships

Source tracking

Get Started

Reference

Integration

​How unification works

​Unified models

​Account

​Contact

​Account Event

​Contact Event

​References

​Account references

​Contact references

​Reference priority

​Relationships

​Source tracking

How unification works

Unified models

Account

Contact

Account Event

Contact Event

References

Account references

Contact references

Reference priority

Relationships

Source tracking